• Yubo Wang, Shengyong Yin, Yuan Zhou, Wuhua Zhou, Tianchi Chen, Qinchuan Wu, Lin Zhou, and Shusen Zheng.
• Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310003, China.
• Int J Med Sci. 2019 Jan 1; 16 (9): 1271-1282.

AbstractNanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) is emerged as a potential curative modality to ablate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The application of local ablation is usually limited by insufficiency of liver function. While baicalin, a flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, has been proven to possess both anti-tumor and protective effects. Our study aimed to estimate different responses of hepatic cancer cells and hepatocytes to the combination of nsPEFs and baicalin. Cell viability, apoptosis and necrosis, mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were examined by CCK-8, FCM, JC-1 and fluorescent probe, respectively. After treatment by nsPEFs, most hepatocytes died by apoptosis, nevertheless, nearly all cancer cells were killed through necrosis. Low concentration of baicalin synergically enhanced nsPEFs-induced suppression and necrosis of HCC cells, nevertheless, the application of baicalin protected normal hepatocytes from the injury caused by nsPEFs, owing to elevating mitochondrial transmembrane potential and reducing ROS generation. Our work provided an advantageous therapy for HCC through the enhanced combination treatment of nsPEFs and baicalin, with which could improve the tumor-ablation effect and alleviate the injury of hepatic tissues simultaneously.© The author(s).

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